What day is the Sabbath?
As Christians, do we still need to keep it holy and what does that look like for us today?
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In my humble opinion, and I could be wrong, God established a rest day. Genesis attributes it to the seventh day of the week of creation. God established the rest day and entrenched it in the Ten Commandments so that stiff-necked people would not forego a rest day for work or financial benefits. He established Sabat as the rest day because it is defined and measurable. Without it, the Law could not police it. Since the New Covenant fulfilled the tenets of the Law but not the spirit of the Law, a rest day is still required. Jews, who had become followers of Christ, agreed to meet on the first day of the week to celebrate Christ. This was Sunday. The Sabat was still the Jewish rest day according to Old Covenant Law. Paul speaks on such observances should not be legalistic, but calls us meet together and more so as the times grow short. So, you can observe the Sabat as a day of rest and relationship with God or Sunday, or any other day, as long as we, the brethren, meet.
In my humble opinion the answer is no. The reason lies in the New Testament teachings, particularly those of Jesus and the apostles. Jesus emphasized that He is the āLord of the Sabbathā (Mark 2:28), and His ministry often challenged the legalistic interpretations of the Sabbath law. In the New Testament, the focus shifts from observing specific days to living in the freedom that Christ brings.
While the Sabbath day has historical and spiritual significance, it is not something Christians are required to observe in the same way as it was under the Old Covenant.
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Quite honestly, I have many issues with SDA. They condemn over a billion Christian for going to Church on Sunday claiming Sunday worship is the Mark of the beast. This is my first day here and I can assure you that if these forums are loaded with SDAāS - Iām outta here! I can stand their judgmentalism.
Iād say āno.ā Exodus 31:13-14 explicitly states that the sabbath is a sign between God and Israel. Paul said to the Gentile believers in Romans 14:5 āIn the same way, some think one day is more holy than another day, while others think every day is alike. You should each be fully convinced that whichever day you choose is acceptable.ā
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Iām not sure if there are any here to be honest. However, the SDA do not have exclusivity on this topic. There are plenty of other people who hold to keeping the Sabbath.
The real, biblical Sabbath is sunset Friday to sunset Saturday, which is observed by observant Jews to this day. The early Christians celebrated and rested on Sunday, the Lordās day, on which he rose from the dead.
I was a missionary in the Arabian Gulf and our weekend there was Thursday-Friday, so we had church on Friday. As Christians we have flexibility because we have died to the Law and now live according to our relationship with our Father!
As I said in answer to a question about tattoos:
Read Genesis 17:9-14, and note how absolute it is.
Now read Galatians and see Paulās response to people who saw that and thought that Christians needed to be circumcised. We have died to the Law, and have been adopted as Godās beloved children! The paradigm has changed from obedience to the Law, to our relationship with our Father and loving our neighbors.
A rest day is good for us, but the particular day of the week is not an issue - so if someone (a pastor, for example, or an ER doctor) has to work on weekends but has another day off, thatās perfectly fine.
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